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NB NAVY
THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 -- MIDNIGHT JUNE 6 acknowledged 12.6.58
What is your full name? Desmond Courtenay Frederick Lloyd What is your present address? Dunesk Burwood Park Road Walton-on -Thames Surrey
Telephone number : Walton-on-Thames 2826
What was your unit, division, corps? Royal Navy attached to Royal Norwegian Navy (H.Nor.Ms. Suenner)
Where did you land and at what time?
What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? Ty. Lieutenant RNVR age 25
Were you married at that time? yes What is your wife's name? Ambrosine Wallace Lloyd
Did you have any children at that time? yes (one and one "expected")
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? appproximately 6 weeks beforehand
What was the trip like during the crossing of the Channel? Do you remember, for example, any conversations you had or how you passed the time? We set sail from Grenock and so were at sea for some three or four days before the landings We did, in fact, have to turn back when off Plymouth as 'D' day was postponed 24 hrs . We passed the time in [crossed out][illegible][end crossed out] normal way on board ship- watch keeping practicing etc etc
Were there any rumours aboard ship? (Some people remember hearing that the Germans had poured gasoline on the water and planned to set it afire when the troops came in.) none- the only rumours amongst the crew [crossed out][illegible][end crossed out] were the possible landing points!
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? yes- but unfortunately it was lost when my ship was torpedoed and [?sank?] at 6.30 am on 'D' day.
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2.
Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? yes when we were sunk
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? no
Were you wounded? no.
How were you wounded?
Do you remember what it was like — that is, do you remember whether you felt any pain or were you so surprised that you felt nothing?
Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny now, even though it may not have seemed amusing at the time? Or anything unexpected or out- of-place? yes -- the track of the torpedo which hit us was reported by the Asdic operator and then visually sighted from the bridge. It was coming straight for the forward magazine and someone on the bridge remarked that "we should all soon be taking wings!" Luckily the missile hit us amidship and all but 35 of the crew were saved.
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? The saturation bombing of the coast defences during the night of 5th and early morning 6th June This was a fantastic sight when seen from Seaward. In addition the towed gliders, filled with Paratroopers, which came over to Allied fleets in the early evening of 6th June.
The vast number of ships at Sea was also a most memorable and heart - warming sight. We all knew that victory would come, it was
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one of those things that struck us all most forcibly 3.
In times of great crisis, people generally show either great ingenuity or self-reliance; others do incredibly strange or stupid things. Do you remember any examples of either ? yes; the torpedo ratings in charge of the depth charges set them all to "safe" before they themselves abandonded ship. Had these men not performed this duty many men who eventually swam to safety, would have been killed when the charges exploded - as they surely would have done.
Do you know of anybody else who landed within the 24 hours (midnight 5 June to midnight 6 June ) either as infantry, glider or airborne troops, whom we should write to? I believe that my brother did- he was in the Army Name P.H. Lloyd c/o A.T.V. Television House Kingsway London WC2
What do you do now? I am a director in my own company. We make foods. Pre- packaged foods mainly for distribution to grocers and "Poles"! & also have six children now
Please let us have this questionnaire as soon as possible, so that we can include your experiences in the book. We hope that you will continue your story on separate sheets if we have not left sufficient room. Full acknowledgement will be given in a chapter called "Where They Are Now.” Cornelius Ryan Joan O. Isaacs The Reader 's Digest
I hope that the above will be of some use to you though "memory" plays tricks after 14 years! D Lloyd 10.6.58
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[*Navy*]
Desmond Courtenay Frederik Lloyd was a Lieutenant in the R.N.V.R. and was 25 on D-Day. His parents had been killed by bombs in February 1944; his house had been burned down a month before. He was Liaison Officer in charge of signals and was on the bridge.
Over the voicepipe came the signal "Torpedo Babood" (Norwegian port side). Instantly everybody on the bridge swung around with binoculars but they were not necessary, the torpedo tracks could be clearly seen. They were coming directly for the section of the ship beneath the bridge which was the forward ammunition section. "How high will I fly" thought Lloyd. He had been on many convoys and had seen many ships sunk but this looked like the end. " Svenner" is stopped waiting for the minesweepers to go ahead and move along the coast so that ships could take up bombarding positions - 1 1/2 miles off shore. The Captain yelled "Hard a port - full ahead starboard - full astern port". To make ship swing to port in order to "count" the tracks - turn so that torpedoes passed parallel with side. Slowly - too slowly - the head turned to port. Thus presenting the boiler room as the target. But the manoeuvre was not fast enough. The torpedoes hit the boiler room, breaking Svenner's back. It was obvious that Svenner couldn't stay afloat, so the Captain gave the order to abandon ship. There were about 30 casualties. Svenner had only been commissioned for six short months. They went down doing a V sign - bow and aft pointing upwards.
They stayed in the water for about half an hour and were picked up by the destroyer "Swift.
Lloyd swam about for about twenty minutes with a broken leg. Every time he kicked [crossed out]he yelled like hell[end crossed out] the sailor yelled like hell.
Afterwards Lloyd apologised to the sailor "Sorry about the kicking, but it was either that or we'd both drown!"
It was the only time throughout the war that Lloyd wore his lifejacket. The CO insisted on that day. He lost his wallet and gold pencil.
Lloyd will drop a line with the address of others aboard Svenner.